Forty-three percent of OTA households say they will continue watching over the air

A new study from the Association of Public Television Stations also has found that more than three-quarters of people who know about the DTV transition have no idea why the government has mandated the switch.

New research from the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) shows strong interest from over-the-air (OTA) TV households in buying a converter box and continuing to use their existing TV sets or purchasing a new DTV to continue receiving TV transmissions.

The study found that about 43 percent of OTA households would take one of those two steps before analog transmission’s end in February 2009. In contrast, only 12 percent of OTA households said they would subscribe to cable or satellite service.

The study revealed that 25 percent of Americans said they didn’t know what steps they would take, and 19 percent said they would “do nothing.” Of those who said they would “do nothing,” 17.6 percent of those households said they would postpone or wait before they take any action, if at all.

Many Americans also are unaware of why the government is mandating the digital transition. Seventy-seven percent for those who were aware of the transition didn’t know why it was happening, the survey found. The survey also found that 18.7 percent of respondents thought the government was on the right track with the transition.

The study results are based on a November 2007 survey of 1153 households conducted by research firm CENTRIS in Fort Washington, PA.

Roughly one in four households in the United States has an HDTV, but about 20 percent of those who think they’re watching HD programming on their HD sets are wrong, says a new study from Leichtman Research Group.